Center for Integrative Medicine and Research at AIIMS, New Delhi

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, J.P. Nadda today inaugurated the Centre for Integrative Medicine and Research (CIMR) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Dr H R Nagendra, Chancellor, S-VYASA University was also present at the occasion.

Speaking on the inauguration, Nadda termed this as a momentous step in the country’s healthcare service. “The national centre at the premier institute of the country shall be dedicated to research, documentation and delivery of holistic healthcare” the Union Minister stated. The Center for Integrative Medicine and Research is a pioneering initiative by AIIMS, New Delhi in the quest for convergence of contemporary medicine with India’s ancient and traditional medical practices. It has been envisioned as a “state of the art” research center where top experts from various disciplines of contemporary medicine will collaborate with Yoga and Ayurveda specialists, both for disease treatment, and for preventive healthcare.

Nadda further added that this step shall witness an integrated approach to healthcare, where the focus shifts from treatment to wellbeing and prevention of diseases. The Centre will provide a potent platform for integrating the contemporary allopathy with the benefits of traditional knowledge in healthcare such a Yoga and Ayurveda.

The Health Minister further added that the Government has placed a significant emphasis on Yoga and traditional systems of medicine and the establishment of the integrative centre is a major step forward in the Government’s efforts to promotion of Yoga as an integrative discipline. The launch of the Center comes just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for making Yoga even more popular globally. The adoption of June 21st as International Yoga Day by the United Nations has brought Yoga to the forefront of the collective world consciousness, the Union Health Minister said. “The establishment of a State-of-the-Art Centre for Integrative Medicine happened in a record time of two months is an incredible achievement for AIIMS,” the Health Minister elaborated.

The Center will seek scientific validation of our ancient medicine systems with a focus on Yoga. It has been designed as a perfect platform for rigorous research to establish the efficacy of our traditional methods of healing, which in turn should pave the way for their greater international scientific acceptability, Nadda said. Such studies are already underway in foreign universities, and AIIMS is now attempting to drive this effort in India through the establishment of the CIMR, he added.

Speaking at the inauguration of the CIMR, Dr. H.R. Nagendra, Chancellor, S-VYASA University noted that evidence through research has demonstrated that traditional practices of India have been effective in preventing and controlling several diseases. The Centre shall be the first of its kind in the country combining, research, education and healthcare delivery. He further added that the Centre promises to be the converging centre where clinicians from the various disciplines of contemporary Medicine will collaborate with Yoga and Ayurveda specialists to provide the best treatment to patients. Dr. Nagendra added that this will help to rationally translate the thousands of years old science into a scientific practice that can be used for the wellbeing of the human kind.

Congratulating the AIIMS New Delhi and S-VYASA University the Union Health Minister said that by combining contemporary medicine and our traditional systems, I am sure that we will achieve the goal of universal wellbeing rather than merely seeking cure of diseases.